News

Want to connect with your western Montana conservation lands? Join us for events and volunteering opportunities! This list will be updated throughout the year:

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2025 Stewardship Society Party

Monday, February 24th; 5pm

Five Valleys’ Stewardship Society party honors our major donors, conservation easement landowners, and project partners. Members: look for information about this year’s party in the coming weeks.

Interested in learning more about our Stewardship Society? Contact our Philanthropy Director, Ramey Kodadek, at ramey@fvlt.org.

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Soil Health Workshop Series #1: Soils 101

Thursday, March 6; 5:30pm

G.W. Marks Exploration Center, 1075 South Avenue W, Missoula (map)

Five Valleys and our partners are excited to bring our community a FREE, three-part soil health workshop series. The first workshop will be Soils 101: Dig into the essentials of soil health and ecological stewardship with Patrick Mangan of MSU Extension. Learn more about the complex world beneath your feet, and how we can take steps to help it thrive.

Learn more.

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"Ties to the Land" Succession Planning for Landowners

Hosted by the Montana Tree Farm System

Friday, March 7; 9am-5pm

Best Western Plus-Grant Creek Inn, 5280 Grant Creek Rd, Missoula (map)

Join the Montana Tree Farm System for a day all about landowner succession: the human side of estate planning. Outstanding instructors, Kirk and Madeline David, will conduct the full-day workshop, which is geared towards families.

Registration is $50 for the first family member (includes a workbook plus electronic reference materials); additional family members are $20 ea. To register contact Ardrene Sarracino at 406-317-5477. Attendance is limited to 25 people per workshop so sign up soon! Registrations must be in by February 28th.

A block of rooms will be available for those attending this workshop the night of March 6th or the night of March 7th for those attending. For additional information contact Ed Levert at 406-293-2847.

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Forestry Mini-College

Hosted by Montana State University Extension

Saturday, March 8; 9am-5pm

University of Montana, Missoula (map)

Forestry Mini-College is a one-day educational workshop open to anyone interested in forestry. Professionals from a variety of natural resources based agencies and industries as well as researchers from MSU and UM, present a variety of sessions for participants to choose topics of greatest interest - including a session about conservation easements presented by Five Valleys' Conservation Project Manager, Derek Goble! Registration is due by February 24th. Learn more.

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Mission Valley Ag Producers Spring Summit

Hosted by Montana State University Extension

Thursday and Friday, March 27-28

KawTaqnuk Resort, 49708 US Highway 93 East, Polson (map)

Are you a Mission Valley agricultural producer? You won't want to miss this two-day summit. Presentation topics include beef nutrition strategies, forage barley trials and research, CSKT Meat Processing Center updates, 2025 Ag Markets outlook, IAC Programs and opportunities, and more.

Registration information and a full agenda coming soon. For more information, contact Patrick Mangan, MSU Extension, at 406-210-9843 or patrick.mangan@montana.edu

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Soil Health Workshop Series #2: Capstone Presentation and Producer Panel

Thursday, April 3, 2025

Location TBA

Celebrate national Soil Health Week with a presentation by Dr. Tony Hartshorn of Montana State University followed by a Producer Panel. Save the date! Registration information and details coming soon. Learn more.

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Soil Health Workshop Series #3: Soil Health and Tool Expo

Thursday, May 1, 2025

Location TBA

The third and final wrap up session will share about the tools and equipment you need to build healthy soils. This event will be hosted by Farm Connect Montana. Mark your calendars! Registration information and details coming soon. Learn more.

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29th Annual Banquet & Auction

Saturday, May 3; 5pm

Adams Center, University of Montana, Missoula (map)

Mark your calendars! Five Valleys' biggest event of the year will be Saturday, May 3rd, 2025. Join us for an evening of community and conservation as we celebrate and raise the funds needed to protect more of western Montana's open lands. Our Banquet includes a silent and live auction, a delicious dinner, and the opportunity to mingle with others who love this special place.

Tickets will go on sale on Wednesday, March 12th.

Interested in sponsoring our Banquet or donating an auction item? Contact Sophie at sophie@fvlt.org

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Stay tuned - more events to come in 2025!

‍Get updates about projects, events, volunteering opportunities, and more by subscribing to Five Valleys' email updates.

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Mountain Ash Berries by Bryony Schwan

Soils Health photo by Paul Lebel

Forest landowner photo by Cathrine L Walters

Mission Valley cow by Chris Gibisch

"Mount Jumbo Magic" by Brian Christianson